diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index aaa2edd9e0e..f626ea1a58d 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ commands:
     parameters:
       category:
         type: enum
-        enum: ["backend", "client", "provider-harness"]
+        enum: ["backend", "client", "provider-harness", "mcp-integration"]
         default: "backend"
     steps:
       - run:
@@ -3162,6 +3162,13 @@ jobs:
     environment:
       MCP_CONFORMANCE_CODECOV_FLAG: mcp-conformance
     steps:
+      - when:
+          condition:
+            equal: [mcp, << parameters.suite >>]
+          steps:
+            - checkout
+            - skip_if_unrelated_changes:
+                category: mcp-integration
       - setup_litellm_test_deps
       - when:
           condition:
diff --git a/.circleci/scripts/classify_changes.sh b/.circleci/scripts/classify_changes.sh
index 387197b65d7..d82f8196823 100755
--- a/.circleci/scripts/classify_changes.sh
+++ b/.circleci/scripts/classify_changes.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 set -uo pipefail
 
-category="${1:?usage: classify_changes.sh <backend|client|ui|provider-harness|cost-map-only|mcp-dependencies|windows-release>}"
+category="${1:?usage: classify_changes.sh <backend|client|ui|provider-harness|cost-map-only|mcp-dependencies|mcp-integration|windows-release>}"
 
 has_client=false
 has_backend=false
@@ -9,10 +9,24 @@ has_ci=false
 has_provider_harness=false
 has_cost_map=false
 has_mcp_dependencies=false
+has_mcp_integration=false
 has_windows_release=false
 outside_cost_map_set=false
 while IFS= read -r file || [ -n "$file" ]; do
   [ -n "$file" ] || continue
+  case "$file" in
+    docs/* | *.md | *.mdx) : ;;
+    *[mM][cC][pP]* | tests/conftest.py | tests/*/conftest.py | tests/integration/* | tests/*/_support/* | tests/unit/integration_support/* | tests/unit/test_circleci_path_filter.py | tests/unit/test_detect_changes.py)
+      has_mcp_integration=true ;;
+    ui/*) : ;;
+    tests/*)
+      case "${file##*/}" in
+        test_*.py) : ;;
+        *) has_mcp_integration=true ;;
+      esac
+      ;;
+    *) has_mcp_integration=true ;;
+  esac
   case "$file" in
     *.md | *.mdx) : ;;
     pyproject.toml | */pyproject.toml | uv.lock | uv.toml | .python-version | rust-toolchain.toml | litellm-rust/* | litellm/__init__.py | litellm/proxy/proxy_server.py | litellm/*mcp* | tests/*mcp* | litellm/integrations/arize/* | tests/base_sdk_tests/* | scripts/check_mcp_sdk_install.py | .github/workflows/test-mcp-dependency-resolution.yml | .github/actions/detect-changes/* | .github/actions/setup-uv-with-retries/* | .github/actions/cache-cargo-build/* | .github/scripts/detect_changes.sh | .github/scripts/uv_sync_with_retries.sh | .circleci/scripts/classify_changes.sh | tests/unit/test_circleci_path_filter.py | tests/unit/test_detect_changes.py)
@@ -42,6 +56,9 @@ while IFS= read -r file || [ -n "$file" ]; do
 done
 
 case "$category" in
+  mcp-integration)
+    [ "$has_mcp_integration" = true ] && echo run || echo skip
+    ;;
   mcp-dependencies)
     [ "$has_mcp_dependencies" = true ] && echo run || echo skip
     ;;
diff --git a/.circleci/scripts/path_filter.sh b/.circleci/scripts/path_filter.sh
index 3050674f562..ca95062f59d 100755
--- a/.circleci/scripts/path_filter.sh
+++ b/.circleci/scripts/path_filter.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 set -uo pipefail
 
-category="${1:?usage: path_filter.sh <backend|client|provider-harness>}"
+category="${1:?usage: path_filter.sh <backend|client|provider-harness|mcp-integration>}"
 here="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 
 run_full() {
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ done
 
 [ -n "$merge_base" ] || run_full "could not resolve a merge base against $candidate_bases"
 
-changed="$(git diff --name-only "$merge_base" HEAD 2>/dev/null)" || run_full "git diff failed"
+changed="$(git diff --name-only --no-renames "$merge_base" HEAD 2>/dev/null)" || run_full "git diff failed"
 [ -n "$changed" ] || run_full "no files changed vs $merge_base"
 
 echo "path-filter[$category]: changed files vs ${merge_base}:"
@@ -32,9 +32,11 @@ printf '%s\n' "$changed" | sed 's/^/  /' || true
 
 decision="$(printf '%s\n' "$changed" | bash "$here/classify_changes.sh" "$category")" || run_full "classify_changes.sh failed"
 
-if [ "$decision" = run ]; then
-  run_full "$category-relevant changes detected"
-fi
+case "$decision" in
+  run) run_full "$category-relevant changes detected" ;;
+  skip) : ;;
+  *) run_full "classify_changes.sh printed an unexpected decision: $decision" ;;
+esac
 
-echo "path-filter[$category]: only unrelated changes detected; halting job as successful"
+echo "path-filter[$category]: not applicable, only unrelated changes detected; halting job as successful"
 circleci-agent step halt
diff --git a/tests/integration/README.md b/tests/integration/README.md
index 3770c85813f..b469a662f7a 100644
--- a/tests/integration/README.md
+++ b/tests/integration/README.md
@@ -128,3 +128,12 @@ status in the existing main ruleset. Close LIT-7744 after this baseline is merge
 required. LIT-7745 can be developed alongside gate completion; its shared-path changes must pass
 the baseline and their added legacy/modern tests before merging. Later coverage extensions belong
 to their implementation tickets rather than keeping LIT-7744 open indefinitely
+
+The `ci/circleci: integration-mcp` status is published for every normal PR pipeline. Before installing
+dependencies or starting services, its `mcp-integration` path filter completes the job successfully
+as "not applicable" for changes confined to documentation, frontend files unrelated to MCP, or
+unrelated tests. MCP files, shared test fixtures and integration helpers always run the full gate.
+Runtime code, dependencies, CI configuration and unrecognized paths also run it conservatively.
+Non-PR pipelines, unavailable merge bases, empty diffs and failed or invalid classification run the
+suite. Renames include both old and new paths. Filtering selects whether to run the entire job;
+it never reduces the 181 required cases for an applicable run
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_circleci_path_filter.py b/tests/unit/test_circleci_path_filter.py
index 3776aea28e4..3775ae32d89 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_circleci_path_filter.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_circleci_path_filter.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import os
 import shutil
 import subprocess
 from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Final
 
 import pytest
 
@@ -49,6 +50,32 @@ CI = [".github/workflows/test-litellm-ui-unit.yml"]
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "category,changed,expected",
     [
+        ("mcp-integration", ["litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/operations.py"], "run"),
+        ("mcp-integration", ["litellm/experimental_mcp_client/client.py"], "run"),
+        ("mcp-integration", ["litellm/proxy/auth/auth_checks.py"], "run"),
+        ("mcp-integration", ["litellm/caching/caching.py"], "run"),
+        ("mcp-integration", ["enterprise/litellm_enterprise/proxy/auth/user_api_key_auth.py"], "run"),
+        ("mcp-integration", ["pyproject.toml", "uv.lock"], "run"),
+        ("mcp-integration", [".circleci/config.yml"], "run"),
+        ("mcp-integration", [".github/workflows/test-unit.yml"], "run"),
+        ("mcp-integration", ["tests/integration/_support/process.py"], "run"),
+        ("mcp-integration", ["tests/integration/conformance_coverage.toml"], "run"),
+        ("mcp-integration", ["tests/conftest.py"], "run"),
+        ("mcp-integration", ["tests/unit/conftest.py"], "run"),
+        ("mcp-integration", ["tests/unit/integration_support/test_process.py"], "run"),
+        ("mcp-integration", ["tests/unit/test_circleci_path_filter.py"], "run"),
+        ("mcp-integration", ["tests/shared_auth.py"], "run"),
+        ("mcp-integration", ["tests/test_litellm/helpers.py"], "run"),
+        ("mcp-integration", ["tests/__init__.py"], "run"),
+        ("mcp-integration", ["tests/e2e/fixtures/policy.json"], "run"),
+        ("mcp-integration", ["tests/e2e/mcp/test_authorization.py"], "run"),
+        ("mcp-integration", ["ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/mcp_servers.tsx"], "run"),
+        ("mcp-integration", ["new_runtime/adapter.py"], "run"),
+        ("mcp-integration", DOCS, "skip"),
+        ("mcp-integration", CLIENT, "skip"),
+        ("mcp-integration", ["tests/test_litellm/llms/anthropic/test_chat.py"], "skip"),
+        ("mcp-integration", DOCS + ["tests/unit/test_router.py"], "skip"),
+        ("mcp-integration", CLIENT + ["litellm/proxy/proxy_server.py"], "run"),
         ("mcp-dependencies", ["pyproject.toml"], "run"),
         ("mcp-dependencies", ["uv.lock"], "run"),
         ("mcp-dependencies", ["litellm/experimental_mcp_client/client.py"], "run"),
@@ -207,7 +234,7 @@ def _run_path_filter(work: Path, tmp_path: Path, category: str, scripts_dir: Pat
     bin_dir = tmp_path / "bin"
     bin_dir.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
     stub = bin_dir / "circleci-agent"
-    stub.write_text("#!/usr/bin/env bash\necho \"[stub] circleci-agent $*\"\nexit 0\n")
+    stub.write_text('#!/usr/bin/env bash\necho "[stub] circleci-agent $*"\nexit 0\n')
     stub.chmod(0o755)
     env = dict(os.environ)
     env["PATH"] = f"{bin_dir}{os.pathsep}{env['PATH']}"
@@ -223,30 +250,34 @@ def _run_path_filter(work: Path, tmp_path: Path, category: str, scripts_dir: Pat
     )
 
 
-def test_path_filter_halts_docs_only_pr(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("category", ("backend", "mcp-integration"))
+def test_path_filter_halts_docs_only_pr(tmp_path: Path, category: str) -> None:
     work = _pr_repo(tmp_path, {"README.md": "# docs\n"})
-    result = _run_path_filter(work, tmp_path, "backend", SCRIPTS_DIR)
+    result = _run_path_filter(work, tmp_path, category, SCRIPTS_DIR)
     assert result.returncode == 0
     assert "circleci-agent step halt" in result.stdout
 
 
-def test_path_filter_runs_backend_pr(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("category", ("backend", "mcp-integration"))
+def test_path_filter_runs_backend_pr(tmp_path: Path, category: str) -> None:
     work = _pr_repo(tmp_path, {"litellm/new.py": "y\n"})
-    result = _run_path_filter(work, tmp_path, "backend", SCRIPTS_DIR)
+    result = _run_path_filter(work, tmp_path, category, SCRIPTS_DIR)
     assert result.returncode == 0
     assert "running job" in result.stdout
     assert "halt" not in result.stdout
 
 
-def test_path_filter_fails_open_when_not_a_pr(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("category", ("backend", "mcp-integration"))
+def test_path_filter_fails_open_when_not_a_pr(tmp_path: Path, category: str) -> None:
     work = _pr_repo(tmp_path, {"README.md": "# docs\n"})
-    result = _run_path_filter(work, tmp_path, "backend", SCRIPTS_DIR, is_pr=False)
+    result = _run_path_filter(work, tmp_path, category, SCRIPTS_DIR, is_pr=False)
     assert result.returncode == 0
     assert "not a pull request" in result.stdout
     assert "halt" not in result.stdout
 
 
-def test_path_filter_fails_open_when_classifier_errors(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("category", ("backend", "mcp-integration"))
+def test_path_filter_fails_open_when_classifier_errors(tmp_path: Path, category: str) -> None:
     """Regression: a broken classifier must run the job, never silently halt it."""
     broken_scripts = tmp_path / "broken_scripts"
     broken_scripts.mkdir()
@@ -255,7 +286,44 @@ def test_path_filter_fails_open_when_classifier_errors(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     (broken_scripts / "classify_changes.sh").chmod(0o755)
 
     work = _pr_repo(tmp_path, {"README.md": "# docs\n"})
-    result = _run_path_filter(work, tmp_path, "backend", broken_scripts)
+    result = _run_path_filter(work, tmp_path, category, broken_scripts)
     assert result.returncode == 0
     assert "classify_changes.sh failed" in result.stdout
     assert "halt" not in result.stdout
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("decision", ("", "unexpected"))
+def test_path_filter_runs_when_classifier_output_is_invalid(tmp_path: Path, decision: str) -> None:
+    scripts: Final = tmp_path / "scripts"
+    scripts.mkdir()
+    shutil.copy(PATH_FILTER, scripts / "path_filter.sh")
+    (scripts / "classify_changes.sh").write_text(f"#!/usr/bin/env bash\nprintf '%s' '{decision}'\n")
+    work: Final = _pr_repo(tmp_path, {"README.md": "# docs\n"})
+    result: Final = _run_path_filter(work, tmp_path, "mcp-integration", scripts)
+    assert result.returncode == 0
+    assert "running job" in result.stdout
+    assert "halt" not in result.stdout
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("uncertainty", ("missing_remote", "empty_diff"))
+def test_mcp_path_filter_runs_when_changed_files_are_unavailable(tmp_path: Path, uncertainty: str) -> None:
+    work: Final = _pr_repo(tmp_path, {"README.md": "# docs\n"})
+    if uncertainty == "missing_remote":
+        _git(work, "remote", "remove", "origin")
+    else:
+        _git(work, "push", "-q", "origin", "HEAD:main")
+    result: Final = _run_path_filter(work, tmp_path, "mcp-integration", SCRIPTS_DIR)
+    assert result.returncode == 0
+    assert "running job" in result.stdout
+    assert "halt" not in result.stdout
+
+
+def test_mcp_path_filter_includes_deleted_side_of_rename(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    work: Final = _pr_repo(tmp_path, {"litellm/experimental_mcp_client/client.py": "original client\n"})
+    _git(work, "push", "-q", "origin", "HEAD:main")
+    _git(work, "mv", "litellm/experimental_mcp_client/client.py", "README.md")
+    _git(work, "commit", "-qm", "move client out of runtime")
+    result: Final = _run_path_filter(work, tmp_path, "mcp-integration", SCRIPTS_DIR)
+    assert result.returncode == 0
+    assert "running job" in result.stdout
+    assert "halt" not in result.stdout